Vancouver / Names / W / Wilson / Oak Street

A family name on Oak Street, Fairview, South Cambie, Shaughnessy, Oakridge and Marpole

The Wilsons

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Wilson at three addresses in 1940, all on Oak Street, with the close spelling Willson. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 224 other streets too, all listed on the Wilson name's own page.

Reserve this family's book, freeThe name in every directory we hold from 1901 to 1945, at every address, each line with its page, to read here or save as a PDF. About $29 when orders open.

Where the Wilsons lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    2301 Oak Street

    Fairview, 1940

    • Walker Wilson, a broom maker at the CN Institute 1940
  2. 2

    3375 Oak Street

    South Cambie, 1940

    • D Wilson, retired 1940
  3. 3

    8696 Oak Street

    Marpole, 1940

    • R A Wilson, a salesman at McGeachie & Holdsworth 1940

    Next door in 1940: R L Gibson at 8686. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: a broom maker and a salesman.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Fairview, Marpole and South Cambie. Each neighbourhood's page shows its trades, its people and every street in it, the way the directory printed them.

The story, address by address

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Walker Wilson at 2301 Oak Street, a broom maker at the CN Institute. D Wilson is listed at 3375 Oak Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists David Wilson there as the householder, retired.

R A Wilson is listed at 8696 Oak Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Robert A Wilson there as the householder, a salesman at McGeachie & Holdsworth.

Today

3375 Oak still has its building from before 1946, dated 1930 by the City's record; 2301 Oak (1982) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 8696 Oak, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Oak Street at Broadway, looking south past billboards and the Vallejo Court apartments
21 May 1929 Oak Street at Broadway, looking south past billboards and the Vallejo Court apartments. Not at the house at 3375 Oak: no archive photo of the 3300 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 453-1. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 5 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Wilsons

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Wilson name in each Vancouver directory we hold from 1901 to 1945: everyone printed under it at every address, their work from the name sections, who lived next door, and the page behind every line, to read here or save as a PDF to print or give.

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Another name, or a house

Sources

Henderson's and successor city directories for Vancouver, read by us line by line: the street sections for 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1940 and 1945, and the name section for 1930 and 1940 where we've read it (Vancouver Public Library, BC City Directories). Names are shown through 1945, as printed. Close spellings are grouped, as on the house pages, since a family's name was often spelled differently from one year to the next; one name can still be several families, and we join lines only where the first names or initials agree. Many Chinese, Japanese and other residents weren't named by the canvassers, so they can't be listed by name: their houses' pages say where. More family names under W. Want a name removed? Tell us.